Tutorial | The Red Lily Scrapbooking & Crafts

Cuts Lot Use

0

Posted by Annie's World | Posted in Scrapbooking | Posted on

Tags: bargains, scal, svg, tutorial, videos

Account limit of 2000 requests per hour exceeded.

Cuts Lot Use

Making the most of Plasma Cutting Tool

If you have large volumes of cutting work and find a mechanical saw inadequate for the purpose, then opting for a plasma cutting would be a sane decision. That apart, the fact also remains that today the market is flooded with many low-priced small-sized machines and quite a few of them even portable. The principal advantages of owning plasma cutting are ease operation, fine quality cuts and quick turnaround time.

To those who are less familiar, plasma cutting is a process that deploys a fierce velocity jet of ionized gas usually delivered from a narrow restrictive orifice. The high velocity ionized gas or the plasma, as it is known, conducts electricity from the torch of the plasma cutter to the piece that is to be cut. The plasma heats the piece in question and melts the material. The high velocity of ionized gas mechanically blows the molten metal away leading to severing.

The question that may obviously arise is – what is the difference between plasma cutting and oxyfuel. The simple fact is plasma can be used on any type of conductive metal – be it mild steel, aluminum or stainless amongst others. As regards oxyfuel, it severs by oxidizing, or in simpler language, it burns the metal it is severing.

Oxyfuel process is hence restricted to steel and other ferrous metals which support the oxidizing process. As plasma cutting does not depend on oxidation to cut, thus it can cut with ease aluminum, stainless and all other conductive materials.

Another factor that needs to be mentioned is plasma cutting is lot easier for a beginner to gain expertise. Particularly on thinner materials, unlike oxyfuel cutting, plasma cutting is hardly takes time. However, for heavier plate applications, one needs high capacity power supply for plasma cutting.

Plasma cutting is indeed the right solution for cutting steel and non-ferrous metals that are not more than 1 inch thick. Plasma cutting is also recommended for cutting expanded metal where oxyfuel may prove useless. Of course, oxyfuel can cut thicker sections of steel that are more than1 inch thick in much quicker time than plasma.

If after carefully studying all your applications, if you feel plasma cutting machine is the right choice for you, then it is necessary you understand the following to derive the maximum benefits out of your plasma cutting machine.

Before commencing operations, make sure that you have clean compressed air that is unmixed with water or oil. Black burn marks on the plate are a sure sign that the air is contaminated. Apply correct air pressure and ensure the nozzle and electrode is perfectly positioned.

Do not fail to observe the prescribed safety practices as contained in the instruction manual. Wear protective garments and gloves as also dark goggles or a welding shield.

Make it a point to approach the metal at a convenient angle - 60 degrees from horizontal, 30 degrees from vertical - and then rotate the torch to the vertical position. Following this method will mean the molten metal is blown away from the torch.

Never touch the nozzle to the work when applying current levels in excess of 45 amps as that would seriously shorten the nozzle life as you will see the cutting will double arc through the nozzle.
You must learn to travel at the ideal speed as traveling too fast or too slow are known to create poor quality cut. Likewise, you should minimize the pilot arc time. To achieve this, place the plasma torch to the edge of the work piece before starting the arc so that you can straightaway get to cutting. You should ideally maintain a 3/16" to 1/8" distance from the nozzle to the work. Avoid moving the torch up and down as that will hinder your efforts.

A well-known secret for use on thicker material is to rotate the torch slightly, increasing the torch orientation to a push instead of dragging the angle as you cut through the last portion of the material. One important instruction is never finish a cut by using the torch to hammer away the last edge of the work.

About the Author

John is a Professional writer working with Everlastgenerators and he writes articles for Plasma Cutters. He written many articles like Welders, ,plasma cutting, TIG Welding. Contact him at weldings.info@gmail.com. For more information visit our site http://www.everlastgenerators.com

Sure Cuts A Lot: Color Tracing an image using Inkscape to use in SCAL